A timely read now with the current recession. This book focuses on small town life during the late 1930s and the Great Depression in the mid-west. WheA timely read now with the current recession. This book focuses on small town life during the late 1930s and the Great Depression in the mid-west. When her father loses his job and the family has to downsize, Mary-Alice is sent from Chicago to live with her grandmother in a small rural town.

"Grandma, the law's afraid of you. You'd grab up that shotgun from behind the woodbox if the sheriff came on your place."

Read alikes: The Exiles by Hilary McKay, Listening for the Crack of Dawn by Donald Davis...more

This was one of my favorite books when I was little. I love the illustrations and the whimsy of Mickey's dreamland. I was surprised to see it on ALA'sThis was one of my favorite books when I was little. I love the illustrations and the whimsy of Mickey's dreamland. I was surprised to see it on ALA's Banned Book List for 2004 when I was pulling together a book display this week. As a child I never really noticed that Mickey is naked other than to think yes he's taking a milk bath, so of course he should be naked....more

I read this book straight through while in the waiting room this morning. The illustrations, both by the author and other sources, are fantastic.

HugoI read this book straight through while in the waiting room this morning. The illustrations, both by the author and other sources, are fantastic.

Hugo Cabret is lonely orphan living in the walls of a Paris train station. His mechanical mind and talent for clockwork make it easy for him to keep all the clocks in the train station running, but he has a bigger project to work on. If he can collect or steal all the pieces he needs and avoid the Station Inspector, Hugo may be able to create magic.

"He could feel the cogs and wheels in his head spinning in different directions.""I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts."...more

This book came across my desk this morning and I just had to take a minute to read it. It really deserves the label of supercute. The illustrations arThis book came across my desk this morning and I just had to take a minute to read it. It really deserves the label of supercute. The illustrations are a beautiful blend of woodblock prints and pencil drawings. Caldecott Winner 2011

Amos McGee is a zookeeper with eccentric friends. When Amos wakes up with the sniffles one day his friends decide to help out....more

I liked this book more than that 2 star rating indicates. I really feel like this is an adult book, rather than teen. The main character and most of tI liked this book more than that 2 star rating indicates. I really feel like this is an adult book, rather than teen. The main character and most of the others the reader encounters are old, complaining of physical pain and stewing over bitter memories. The couple kid or teen characters are very one dimensional. The author does a beautiful job with descriptions of the jungle and nature. After reading this book, I looked for more information on the author or historical background, but very little is available.

Perro Viejo is an old slave at the end of his life on a Cuban sugar plantation. He totters through his days as gatekeeper, wandering through the memories of people he has known and attrocities he has seen. When his fellow slave, Beira, harbors a runaway Perro Viejo must decide if he is too old to try for freedom.

"The gatekeeper knew much about sadness, the endless sorrow of all his losses, the restless fear that never left him, the threatening ordor of torture and death."

"Old people carried the cold in their bones."

"He was home, crying, ashamed of the frightful sensation of feeling free."

"Trunks of every shape, leaves of every color, flowers of every fragrance surrounded the plantation in a tight green cloak."

"A few pale stars flickered in a dark moonless sky."

"Everything that happens on earth, good or bad, is in the hands of the people and in no one else's."

I, like most of the population, first read this book in high school. I remember liking it then but I think I missed a lot. Bradbury is a writer who doI, like most of the population, first read this book in high school. I remember liking it then but I think I missed a lot. Bradbury is a writer who doesn't connect all the dots for you; you have to analyze and read between the words to fully appreciate his literary creation.

Rebellion: "It is computed, that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end" from Gulliver's Travels

"Then he began to read in a low, stumbling voice that grew firmer as he progressed from line to line, and his voice went out across the desert, into the whiteness..."

"Silly words, silly words, silly awful hurting words."

"On the way downtown he was so completely alone with his terrible error that he felt the necessity for the strange warmness and goodness that came from a familiar and gentle voice speaking in the night."

"If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn."

"You think you can walk on water with your books."

"Better to keep it in old heads, where no one can see it or suspect it. We are all bits and pieces of history and literature..."

"they were sure of nothing save that the books were on file behind their quiet eyes, the books were waiting, with their pages uncut, for the customers who might come by in later years, some with clean and some with dirty fingers."